President Obama and Governor Romney tackle 14 science questions in this
Scientific American article. The last set of answers (below) will be of interest to our readers. Topics included 1. Innovation and the Economy, 2. Climate Change, 3. Research and the Future, 4. Pandemics and Biosecurity, 5. Education, 6. Energy, 7. Food, 8. Fresh Water, 9. The Internet, 10. Ocean Health, 11. Science in Public Policy, 12. Space, 13. Critical Natural Resources.

The final question, #14, is below. Not sure why heart disease treatments aren't as pressing as vaccination. Or cancer prevention. Or obesity control. Each of which impacts America in all aspects of health and science, none of which warranted a question - like vaccination.

14. Vaccination and public health.Vaccination campaigns against preventable diseases such as measles, polio and whooping cough depend on widespread participation to be effective, but in some communities vaccination rates have fallen off sharply. What actions would you support to enforce vaccinations in the interest of public health, and in what circumstances should exemptions be allowed?

Barack Obama:

Today, there are too many Americans who do not get the preventive health care services they need to stay healthy. Many people put off preventive care because the deductibles and copays are too expensive. That’s why I fought for the Affordable Care Act, which will make sure all Americans have access to quality preventive health care services. Under the Affordable Care Act, Americans can now get vital preventive services – including the full suite of routine vaccines recommend by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices – with no co-pay or deductible. The health care law also created the Prevention and Public Health Fund, an investment in promoting wellness, preventing disease, and investing in public health infrastructure across the country. It will help us transform our health care system from a focus on sickness and disease to a focus on prevention and wellness. The law also proves authority to states to purchase adult vaccines with state funds at federally-negotiated prices, supporting state vaccination programs. Ultimately, I believe the health care law is a significant step forward in ensuring that every American has access to the preventive care and immunizations that they need to stay healthy.

Mitt Romney:

The first priority must be to ensure that America has adequate supplies of safe and effective vaccines. Making vaccines requires complex facilities and highly skilled workers, which means that America must continue to strengthen its advanced manufacturing capabilities.

Second, preventing outbreaks of these diseases also requires that these vaccines are used effectively. The vaccines only work to prevent outbreaks when a sufficient number of people are protected from the diseases and thus able to stop a bug from spreading from one person to the next, which means that the vast majority of Americans need to take steps to receive vaccinations.

Finally, America must have a robust research and development enterprise capable of constantly improving on the tools available to prevent these diseases. That means taking steps to ensure that America remains the most attractive place to develop and commercialize innovative, life-saving products like vaccines. The issue of medical innovation has arisen at several points throughout this survey, underscoring its importance to America’s scientific and economic leadership in the coming years. America has historically dominated the field, but uncompetitive policies in areas ranging from taxation to regulation to trade and human capital are threatening that leadership. Recent years have seen an unprecedented exodus of investment from the United States to more innovation-friendly markets. My innovation agenda, detailed above, is aimed at reversing that tide.

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who do you think is the 47 percent that romney is talking about? oh, could it be your autistic children that are dependent on state government services for example ABA therapy.
What about when your children become adults and there is no one to take care of them after you pass away. They will be the 47 percent. What will happen then???

I'm oddly reminded of two rats on a sinking ship fighting over the last piece of cheese.

Frankly both candidates give me pause and if there were a viable 3rd candidate he'd have my vote. Neither one of them will rock the boat and thus the boat that is our country will continue to sink into a nation of Autistics, Allergy sufferers, and those with autoimmune issues and other vaccine induced problems.

Vaccine manufactures equals jobs and big government and big pharma go hand in hand all the way to the bank.

We need a new type of politician who will get us clean water, clean food, and healthy places to raise our children and to live. We need medicine and medical care that isn't sold to the highest bidder. We need some old fashioned honesty and that's not gonna be found in either candidate.

If anyone imagines that nationalized health care will have some altruistic epiphany that sets us free to make our own decisions, he is seriously deluded. Just look at Great Britain. Ask Dr. Wakefield.

Vote against ObamaCare. Big pharma wants nationalization because it will guarantee a government-mandated market for them. Once the noose is tightened, there will be no research into anything, much less into exposing their mandatory poisons.

You can't base your vote on either answer...both are very vague...but one thing does stand out with Romney's vs Obama...

Romney says: ensure that America has adequate supplies of safe and effective vaccines

Obama says:the health care law is a significant step forward in ensuring that every American has access to the preventive care and immunizations that they need to stay healthy

I would rather go with the "safe and effective" rather than "Health care law" I don't want a law telling me I have to vaccinate myself or my kids. If people want more specific answers...they have to ask more specific questions.

Amy Liebler is correct, there is a growing division , a class system that would dictate the best for some and pinata spoils for the rest. I wish I could draw..can see the elephant pinata..our disabled kids batting at it..Ann with a huge caricature head poised for photo op on her horse bearing the ama logo ( medical needs horse) ..just seems a perfect comment imo.

there is a huge disconnect with marginalized groups such as those of us families with disabilities...the pressures for candidates has gotten hugely out of control. the rancor between parties and those with money vs those with less has become so polarized.
I really like the idea that one of the posters suggested of a 'canary party' to advance the causes of folks with disabilities.
The big list of things Ann Romney does to keep healthy was disturbing...because of the disconnect. There is no thought by Romney to make that kind of therapy available for people who lack money. (Hearing of the many horses and houses, only added to my sense of the gap). I personally have more positives for Obama in that he shows concern that people other than himself , have health care, even though he may not understand the depth of those needs, for people with autims.

the only thing to fear is FEAR it self If you are not able to visit the doctor because you have not been vaccinated there are plenty of alternative practitioners out practicing other forms of healing. Guess what if you don't start with the vaccines then you may never need to see anyone. I see it as creating illness.

We can't expect them to believe autism is a direct result of vaccine if studies continue to be pumped out indicating otherwise. There is corruption at the root of this, and WE need to address these "studies" and expose them one by one. Funding to expose this corruption would be money well spent. Follow those money trails from the corporate source, identify those paid to influence, and prosecute the offenders ,including any scientist that is selling their soul for money.

With all this justified pessimism, I still hope that Obama, if reelected, may have a chance of doing something about poisonous vaccines. In 2013 he won’t care about reelections, and he has already passed his medical reform. He may potentially be free to do what is needed to save the America, if he wants, of course. I think he dreams about going into history as a great president, so he may have cojones to do what is right. Romney however is a lost cause, because he only serves the money.

big pharma, like big corporate agro business, cares little for the collateral damage of their profit lines...it isn't about keeping us healthy any more than monsanto is concerned with solving world hunger...and both parties are bought and paid for by the same corporate entities.

my child, whom i adopted and have raised since birth, was given a hep B shot before i even got to the hospital. she suffered 'failure to thrive' as for the next full month of her life the 4lb7oz child struggled to stay awake and could scarcely suckle. i was clueless as to why. but after the first scheduled shots dpt and god knows what else, she suffered seizures immediately and for the next full year, altho they declined in frequency the further we got from the day she was poisoned by the concoction.

the day the government or anyone else tries to 'force' me to get her a shot for anything, will be the day i happily move to some 'free' country and leave my citizenship and hers at the door on our way out.

Robomney 2012!!! Good grief, if there is anything that I have learned through my experience with autism, it is that the polcies of our government, on both sides, are brought and paid for. Access to immunizations is king among politicians in both party lines because they cannot say otherwise, and risk loosing campaign support. SAD!!!

At this point, I would be thrilled for parents to be confident in the right to say no to vaccines for their children and themselves. I agree with Maurine, it is all about the money. The health of Americans is being sold to the highest bidder.

I don't see either of these guys rocking the boat. As the campaign comes down to the wire, they will pay lip service to autism in order to try to win votes. But picking a public fight with pharma that could cause a stock market slide? Questioning vaccine safety and engendering the wrath of all the medical groups who were needed to support healthcare reform? Calling out the government agencies for covering up a crime? About as likely as Mitt releasing his tax returns.

Both candidates live in bubbles. To the left is the Obama's bubble and to the right Romney's bubble. Meanwhile the rest of us are struggling to keep our heads above water. I don't see much of a choice this election sad to say. Both candidates seem oblivious to the problems facing average citizens and particularly autism families.

I don't particularly care whether either Obama or Romney are aware of the reality of vaccine dangers, except that it would make them that much more culpable. I care about the fact that they would never be allowed to discuss it publicly.

Likewise, when the powers that be obviously actively censor any public discussion of the the many pitfalls and inherent dangers of vaccination that are revealed daily, there's no reason to ever expect a real vaccine issue to surface in an election campaign. Perhaps when the powers that be become the powers that were.

Vaccines have destroyed America!
The main cause of current American economic-social catastrophe is the destruction of brains and bodies of American children with poisonous, excessive vaccines, which has been going on for profits of a few oligarchs since 2-3 decades. These seriously damaged children, now adults, with learning disabilities, autism, ADHD etc. are unable to learn and to compete on international levels with well-educated and mostly healthy Asian population. IMO, nothing will revitalize America, if we don’t stop the current insane, genocidal vaccination program. We need to bring this info to the President.

IMO, both Obama and Romney have no clue that vaccines kill and cripple American children in mass. To get them informed, may be it is best to contact their spouses and the spouses of prospective vice presidents. Nonetheless, it seems that Obama, who really wants to succeed as a great president, may be more open to the problem of destruction of children’s health and mind by vaccines. We should inform Michelle and Mrs. Biden about problems with vaccines. On the other hand, it appears that Romney will push for production of more vaccines and possibly for forced vaccinations, if the billionaires can make money selling them.

I read in my local newspaper that Mitch McConnell came to the local hospital and spoke to the hospital staff.
He is touring all of the hospitals in Kentucky.

I have written him and written him.
I would say that he is throughly entrenched in medical dogma. He had polio as a child, and it is hard for someone to see the other side of an issue that vaccines caused autism when they actually did not have a vaccine but was so unfortanate to have polio.

It is a complicated mess that no politician is going to touch, but someoen is gong to have to touch it - cause e may have no polio but having autism is like one of those deals with the devil.

As far as I can tell, both Obama and Romney are equally oblivious to vaccine problems.

At the DNC, both President Obama and his wife said that he reads many letters sent to him. I was thinking that anyone who has witnessed a vaccine injury should write to him - whether about vaccine induced autism in our children, or seizures, or other kinds of vaccine reactions.

She went into remission soon after choosing several alternative treatments to manage her symptoms.

•reflexology
•acupressure
•acupuncture
•yoga
•deep-breathing exercises
•cranial-sacral therapy
•horse riding (dressage)
Ann's health has become a full-time job for her. She tries to maintain control of her stress and energy levels. During Mitt's years in office and her's as First Lady, she stayed on top of her symptoms and took good care of herself as a way of warding off future attacks.

Her initial treatment, which she says stopped the progression of her MS, was corticosteroids taken intravenously. She also took other medications and although they were effective, chose to stop them due to the side-effects she experienced. She doesn't advise others to do this however, only that for her, the alternatives have worked better at helping her manage her symptoms.

One of the things she most attributes to her continued health is her participation in dressage. She won't reveal the number of dressage horses she owns, but calls her participation in the sport “joy therapy”.

She took up dressage during the time of her rehabilitation from her first MS attack in 1998. Back then she was sometimes too weak to even sit in the saddle. Now she competes with the best in the field and is a winner of top amateur medals. She won the 2005 Silver Medal and 2006 Gold Medal at the Grand Prix level from the United States Dressage Federation.

As you can see, Ann Romney leads an active life as a result of the therapies she has chosen. Besides her equestrian activities, she has several children's charities which she is involved in, one being Operation Kids. She also helped campaign for her husband's 2008 presidential campaign and has given him the go ahead for his 2012 bid for the presidency.

Unfortunately, living with MS doesn't keep you from developing other conditions as well. In 2008, she was diagnosed with mammary ductal carcinoma in situ, (DCIS), a non-invasive type of breast cancer. After having the lump removed and undergoing radiation therapy in December of that same year, she has been cancer-free.

At present they have homes in La Jolla, San Diego, California and in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Both places are located near some of the couple's 16 grandchildren. Ann loves the La Jolla home, not only because of the warm weather, but also because it is near where she rides her horses. It's also convenient for her other MS therapies.

First, I am disappointed that neither candidate answered the second part of the question, "in what circumstances should exemptions be allowed?"

Second, let's not be misled by wrong information about the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. It does not require anyone to get vaccines. And, the CDC is not in a position to deny health care to patients until the patients do what the CDC wants. There was lots of false information spread around concerning ACA.

I agree both Obama and Romney have the same position on vaccines. Under Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which includes the CDC responsible for vaccines will administer this program nationwide if it is enacted in 2014 with the re-election of Obama. Romney said if elected he will get rid of it.

See from the IRS......

Affordable Care Act Tax Provisions

Health Insurance Premium Tax Credit

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) administers the requirements for the Exchanges and the health plans they offer.

The Federal Government’s proposed mandatory health insurance will mean mandatory vaccinations/immunizations. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) says that for anyone who refuses to keep up-to-date vaccinations, under the new health reform, will not be able to obtain any health care you may need until immunizations are current.

Adults (there is an adult vax schedule) as well as children will be forced to take vaccines they don't want.

My way of looking at this catastrophe of vaccine induced autism is that Obama spent 4 years as President and didn't think anything about the epidemic, other than providing more money for genetic research, which isn't helping anyone vaccine injured.Romney, not even interested from his words in the above article other than possibly being an investor in vaccine research.So if anyone is banking on the oval office to end this epidemic of vaccine induced autism, they're just wasting their time, because as usual the oval office serves special interests groups, and the vaccine injured aren't in their interest, if they were the problem would have been solved long ago. When the problem hits 1 in 6 which at the rate that we are going will take 10 years or less, then they will be open to exploring the vaccine/autism link, but it will be to little to late because as we see now this economy is not improving due to the growing list of people that are disabled, not only putting a strain on the economy but also not being able to expand due to less purchasing power, and the final result is an economy in a constant tailspin, with no recovery, just disaster.

I'm not impressed by either candidates position on vaccinations, but I'm also not surprised. At this point, nobody particularly wants to compete for the "anti-vaccine" vote, and after Michelle Bachman was treated for her concerns about Gardisil and brain damage, I'm not shocked.